The present invention relates to a child seat integrally formed within a vehicle seat assembly and in particular to a seat belt mounting for the integral child seat.
Numerous vehicle seat assemblies have been developed having what is known as an integral child seat therein. The integral child seat typically has one or more cushion members which are movably attached to the vehicle seat assembly and enable the seat to be used either by an adult or by a child requiring special features such as a booster seat and a separate restraint system. Many integral child seats have a lower seat support which is rotatably mounted to the seat back of the vehicle seat assembly. The lower seat support is rotatable about a transverse axis at the base of the seat back and has a stowed position within the seat back and a use position in which it extends forward, generally horizontally.
When the seat support is in the stowed position, an adult can sit in the seat assembly. When the seat support is in the use position, a child can sit in the seat assembly. Integral child seats also include a belt restraint system for the child occupant. A five point restraint system is often used, having a pair of belts. Each belt is attached at one end to opposite sides of the lower seat support and extend upward over the occupant's shoulders. Each belt has a clasp which is insertable into a buckle between the seat occupant's legs thus forming lap belts and shoulder belts from the buckle, over the occupant's shoulders.
The present invention relates to the attachment of the belts at the right and left sides of the lower seat support. It is one object of the present invention to provide a belt attachment which lowers the lap belt as it extends over the wearer's lap to help prevent the lap belt from riding over the lilac crest of the seat occupant's pelvis. By doing so, the forces applied to the seat occupant during a vehicle collision are applied to the occupant's pelvis as opposed to the soft abdominal tissue above the pelvis.
The improved placement of the lap belt is accomplished by moving the attachment point of the belts forward from the lower seat support pivot axis. This results in a lap belt which extends from the buckle transversely, over the user's legs, and then down to the lower seat support rather than extending rearwardly from the buckle toward the pivot axis. The ends of the lap belts are attached to belt anchor brackets mounted to the sides of the lower seat support. The belt anchor brackets, in a preferred embodiment, include rearwardly extending mounting portions to mount the belt anchors to the seat back of the seat assembly, thereby rotatably mounting the lower seat support to the seat back as well.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.